IMHO, The Sd. Kfz. 250/9 has been fairly well ignored as a reconnaissance vehicle, having none of the glamor of the Sd. Kfz. 222 or the 234/2 Puma.

So, I'm starting this thread to collect data on the vehicle, including user accounts, anecdotes, production and delivery statistics and information on the little half-track's unit assignments.

This vehicle seems to have born, for many years and especially on the Ostfront, the brunt of reconnaissance activities for several Panzer divisions and it is time to bring its service into perspective and documentation--again in my humble opinion. So, please feel free to post on it and any other version of the 250 series that served in the Aufklarungs Abts. on the Ostfront!

Nice idea David and a golden opportunity for me to do something for the reputation again

According to T.L. Jentz in Panzer-Tracts 11-2 the first 3 Sd.Kfz. 250/9 were sent to the Eastern Front by 1 July 1942. Mass production was planned to commence in mid July at a rate of 30 per month. He doesn't go into any details but something must have gone wrong since only a total of at least 310 had been accepted by the Heereswaffenamt by the end of 1943! 318 folowed in 1944 and 109 in 1945.

Unfortunatelythere is no allocation data available for 1942 and so I was not able to establish who actually received the Sd.Kfz. 250/9 first (my guess 1. and/or 2. Pz.Div.) but I do have pretty good coverage for 1943 - 1945 compiled from from units monthly status reports, le.SPW allocation files and Org.Abt. organizational files.

Hope I didn't leave out any units and didn't include too many mistakes in what is written below, but I had to go through a considerable amount of paperwork for this. When I talk about 'vehicles delivered' I mean the full equipment fo a Pz.Späh-Kp. c in accordance with K.St.N. 1162 c, i.e. 16 Sd.Kfz. 250/9 and 9 Sd.Kfz. 250/5 (often replaced by Sd.Kfz. 250/3).
Note that in many cases considerable time passed between authorization and actual deliveries.

Pz.Korps-Aufkl.Abt. FH (Pz.Korps FH): Unit was ordered to be formed in mid March 1945 using Pz.A.A. FH (Pz.Div. FH) which was refitting in Wildflecken and later Milowitz since Oct 1944. 16 Sd.Kfz. 250/9 had alredy been delivered in late January 1945.

233. Res.Pz.Div. received a few Sd.Kfz. 250/9 but date of delivery unknown to me. These vehicles may have later ended up with Pz.Div. Holstein, but that's unconfirmed.

Pz.Brig. 101 - 113 did not receive any Sd.Kfz. 250/9.
Pz.Brig. 150? During Nov 1944 the 1./Pz.A.A. 2 was assigned to the brigade. This company was refitting in Germany and had just received 16 Sd.Kfz. 250/9. If these vehicles were actually taken along I do not know for sure.
Führer-Gren.Brig./Div. authorized 2 platoons Sd.Kfz. 250/9 Sep 1944, vehicles delivered Sep/Oct 1944.
Führer-Beg.Brig./Div. did not receive any Sd.Kfz. 250/9.

Records of the Gen.Insp.d.Pz.Tr. indicate the delivery of a Pz.Späh-Kp. c to Romania in Feb. 1944, further details unknown to me.

Pz.A.A. 69 (3. Kav.Div.) and Pz.A.A. 70 (4. Kav.Div.) were each allocated 16 250/9 and 9 250/3 in March 1945 while being formed in Milowitz. The vehicles for Pz.A.A. 69 were actually reported as delivered in April 1945. The unit left Milowitz on 20.4.1945 but I do not know if it managed to reach the 3. Kav.Div.
A handwriten note in the allocation files seems to indicate that the vehicles intended for Pz.A.A. 70 were given to Pz./E.u.A.Abt. 3/Pz.A.A. Döring instead and may have ended up with Pz.Div. Clausewitz.

Interesting, but no 250/9s issued to 4. Pz. Division? I only ask this because it actually sheds a slight bit of light on the use of the Luchs by this division.

Given the scale of the battles 4th Pz. was involved in from mid-1944 and the scarcity of Luchs due to production limitations, I would have expected Pz.A.A 4 to have had to flesh out its ranks with the 250 series. As I said, very interesting and very helpful!

As far as I know it, the 250/9 was (un) officially known as "Cäsar". This is something I have read in several sources, although this name does not come back in the official Suggestiv-Namen list I have somewhere else in my other sources.
Maybe Martin can clear this.

Well Dave, another reminder of the old saying that 'Nobody is perfect!'

Yes, I missed that one last night The 4. Pz.Div. had been authorized a 'Pz.Späh-Kp. c' already in May 1944 but with the remark 'current organization remains valid until currently used equipment is used up'.

I also had forgotten about Pz.A.A. München but now the above post is already updated accordingly.

@Piet
Sorry but no, I have no information available about 'Cäsar' being made official at some time.

A veteran from the Panzer-Lehr-Aufklärungs-Abteilung wrote me they had a Cäsar Kompanie, and later I read that again, somewhere else.
Perhaps the Cäsar stood for the 1162 c.

Here's another tidbit of information:
When the SS-Panzergrenadier-Brigade "Nederland" was refreshed in mid 1944, they were authorized to have a platoon from 1162c in their Aufklärungs-Kompanie.
Eventually, this was never realised.

I just remembered having an experience report for March/April 1944 with lots of technical details from the 2./Pz.A.A. 23 hidden in my archive. It is 6 pages long and I don't have the time for a full translation but here are at least a few quotes from the introduction and the summary to give an impression:

"... The company has fully proven its value during the recent fighting retreat hampered by indescribable dirt and mud. Today it cannot be missed anymore especially in combat reconnaissance. The foothills of the Karpathian Mountains which once more faced a reconnaisance unit with new problems showed this in particular.

... The Spähkompanie (c) which next to its original task had also to be employed in the attack role together with tanks and assault guns achieved sustained success.
The 2 cm gun had impressive moral as well as physical effect on the enemy. However, employment in the attack role will be the exception unless explicitly ordered by division HQ.

... In summary it can be said that during the first two months of employment with the company in Russia the Pz.-Spähwagen (c) has proven itself in the reconnaissance role als well as in combat actions. The small defects that appeared are eclipsed by the major advantages of the vehicle and the seasoned 'Radspähleute' as well as the seasoned SPW crews have meanwhile dropped their inital mistrust and developed full confidence in their new weapon after the company achieved success and did well when properly employed."

I do not know if this rather positive evaluation was typical because so far I have no other report for comparison.

This is really great Martin!!! It's the first of any combat report I've read about the vehicle. I think we'll have to raise a volunteer squad of Feldgrau Kommandos and raid your archive to see what other treasures are hidden there!!!!